East Street (Bristol)
Property Partnership

Unlocking buildings on East Street for amazing ideas, that help us live affordably, sustainably and together.

In collaboration with
Action greater bedminster

Facilitated by

What is the Partnership?

The East Street Property Partnership is a new initiative to unlock our high street buildings for brilliant local ideas, and for community use or ownership.

Our goal is to bring people together (the community, local businesses, asset owners, council and funders) to:

  1. understand who owns the properties on East Street;

  2. build relationships and trust between community business leaders, the council, asset owners and other local actors;

  3. start to acquire freeholds & leaseholds of multiple ‘anchor’ buildings – to activate them for long-term local benefit.

We expect this to result in an increase in:

  • affordable goods and services aligned with local needs;

  • small businesses and social enterprises;

  • jobs and opportunities;

  • social infrastructure and community hubs.

We hope to set a new tone for how properties are owned, managed and used in East Street – so that over time it becomes less culturally acceptable to have long-term overpriced, vacant or neglected properties.

Get involved

So far, the Partnership is made up of a group of people from Bristol City Council, Windmill Hill City Farm, Bedminster Town Team, Action Greater Bedminster, asset owners, commercial agents, local residents and businesses — as well as a Platform Places mentor.

You’re invited to get involved and help shape the work of the Partnership in your neighbourhood!

  • We’ve been mapping ownership of 152 commercial properties on East Street, Philip Street, Cannon Street & Whitehouse Street – to be able to invite asset owners to the dinner table for conversations.

  • In November 2023, we brought key stakeholders together (the community, local businesses, asset owners, council and funders) in a convivial gathering convened by Bristol City Council.

    Over food in a local cafe, stakeholders shared the challenges they face, gathered ideas for local spaces, and developed a shared vision for our town centre buildings.

    Thank you to ETM Recycling for covering the costs of the gathering.

  • Together we are identifying a constellation of ‘anchor’ buildings that can be brought into community use or ownership, and raise funds to activate them with amazing local ideas and businesses – for the benefit of local people.

  • We’ll gather our learnings from the pilot project and agree on next steps for the Partnership to continue collaboratively transforming our town centre buildings for long-term local benefit.

The plan and process

Explore our planned activities for our pilot project:

Who’s involved?

  • Mayor Marvin Rees, OBE

    Mayor Marvin Rees, OBE

    Mayor of Bristol

  • Cllr Nicola Beech

    Cllr Nicola Beech

    Councillor for St George Central, Bristol

  • Cllr Tony Dyer

    Ward Councillor for Southville, Bristol

  • Cllr Christine Townsend

    Ward Councillor for Southville, Bristol

  • Lucy Warin

    Lucy Warin

    Regeneration Officer, Bristol City Council

  • Jo Plimmer

    Senior Arts Development Officer, Bristol City Council

  • Steve Sayers

    CEO, Windmill Hill City Farm

  • Tom Windaybank

    Ocean Estate Agents

  • Benedict Pagani

    Regeneration Officer, Bristol City Council

  • Ade Williams

    Lead Pharmacist and Director, Bedminster Pharmacy, Chair Bedminster Town Team

  • Sarah Morrison

    Sarah Morrison

    Economic Development, Bristol City Council

  • Anna Ralph

    Anna Ralph

    Head of Operations and Business, BRICKS Bristol. Director, Share Bristol

  • Ellie Freeman

    Action Greater Bedminster

“The East Street Property Partnership is an exciting new initiative for South Bristol to preserve East Street’s unique offer and identity whilst supporting the businesses to adapt and grow.

As the area responds to growth and development it is vital that we build a sustainable and inclusive economy which creates places where everyone can thrive and benefit from these changes.

The work that we are doing alongside Platform Places as part of the Bedminster Green regeneration will support local businesses and community organisations to be a driving force on the high street and keep it affordable for local communities. We know that access to affordable property can be a challenge for organisations, and strongly encourage landlords to come to the table to collaborate with them so that together we can make it unacceptable to have long-term overpriced, vacant or neglected properties in such an important area.”

— Mayor Marvin Rees, OBE

Start your own
Local Property Partnership

East Street Property Partnership is part of a UK-wide movement called Platform Places, which is co-founded by the likes of High Streets Task Force, Power to Change, Legal & General, council leaders and community entrepreneurs.

Nominate your neighbourhood to get support to start your own Local Property Partnership.